If you ever want to appreciate your local Denny’s, I advise you to go live in Japan for a few years. It’s not that Denny’s Japan is all that bad — it’s actually one of my top picks for late-night famires (family restaurant) coffee and dining — but something about it just doesn’t satisfy the American in me like the ones in the U.S. Denny’s Japan is owned by the company that also owns Seven-Eleven, the top chain of convenience stores in Japan, and for some reason the company thought it would be a great idea to remind everyone of this fact by sticking big Seven-Eleven signs on all Denny’s, showing the parent company’s new name, 7&i Holdings. After all, nothing makes you hunger for good restaurant dining like a convenience store logo, and nothing builds customer loyalty like branding yourself as a holding company. During Anime Expo, I was quite happy to be able to enjoy breakfast in the nearby Denny’s, since I associate a Grand Slam Breakfast with the restaurant chain far more than the menu items they offer in Japan, which include lots of traditional Japanese foods like fried pork cutlet and miso soup.
